Tag Archives: benz

Remember the 2006 Mercedes-Benz S430 that I photographed? Well, the owner hired me to photograph his other Mercedes-Benz: a 2009 C300 Sport. I reviewed the refreshed model in two door form, and while it wasn’t my cup of tea, it was a solid compact luxury car. I did get to drive this 2009, and I found it to be a capable performer. It steers nicely, and the brakes are sharp. To be honest, I do prefer the 2012 face-lift over this styling, but it is still a decent looker. I hope you like the pictures!

Before the C-Class Coupe, Mercedes-Benz attempted to fill the coupe niche with the C-Class Sport Coupe (CLC in other markets). With a hatchback body style and its high prices, the Sport Coupe proved unpopular with the buyers, specifically young adults. However, seeing how successful the Audi A5 and the BMW 3 Series coupe was, Mercedes attempted to enter the foray with a coupe version of its popular C-Class sedan. Despite the previous Sport Coupe’s individual style, the latest C-Class coupe looks like the sedan with two doors chopped off. Available in C250, C350, C63 AMG versions, this Coupe attempts to lure younger buyers to the brand unlike the unsuccessful Sport Coupe. Continue reading →

What can I say about German engineering? When it comes to luxury cars, the German engineering is present in cars. You can feel it in the ride, the handling, and the overall feel of the controls. The Audi A4 is an example of such engineering. As Audi changed its nomenclature from just numbers (80, 100) to numbers and letters (A4, A6, A8), their cars adopted a different approach to beating BMW and Mercedes Benz in the luxury market. Audi, a division of Volkswagen, would use Volkswagen platforms to keep costs down, while focusing on driving performance and comfort. The Audi A4 succeeded the Audi 80 in 1996, as an attempt to better the likes of its rivals BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. Following up on the first generation A4’s success, the second generation A4 promises even better driving performance. Continue reading →

Fun fact: The original Mercedes SLK was the first production luxury convertible to feature a folding hardtop. This novel feature enabled the SLK to look like a coupe with the top up, and a roadster with the top down, while also providing extra comfort and security that other cloth top convertibles could not match. It was a success, selling around 55,000 worldwide in its first year (expensive convertibles do not usually sell this well). However, the original SLK garnered a reputation as a chick car, as it did not provide the driving experience its looks suggested. The second generation SLK in 2005-2011 sacrificed the previous SLK’s smooth lines for a more racier design. Even though handling was improved considerably, its image as a chick car remained, and its handling was still far off the pace of a Porsche Boxster. The latest SLK retains the retractable hardtop while promising better performance than the last two SLKs. Continue reading →